LITTLE BUTTERFLY
(Aurelia's POV)
"Oh, my delicate butterfly,"
He tilted my chin up, his gaze unsettling. The mansion loomed behind him, an unsettling silence hanging heavy in the air. A knot of dread formed in my stomach.
"Don't you worry, I will ensure your final resting place is adorned with the finest silks, and your coffin, filled with elegance," he murmured, his eyes glinting with a burning flame.
Everything I'd happened to know had been twisted, leaving only a confusing emptiness. A cold fear crept in, replacing the warmth of the previous month's memories.
My words died at my lips, "Leo..." and just like that, the excruciating pain finally went away.
"Rest in peace, Veronica."
...
"Aurelia!"
A shrill voice cut through the air, laced with disdain.
"You lowly wench, how dare you not notice my words?! The audacity of someone from your background to ignore the words of a countess, despite the kindness we showed to you, is this what we get in return? Remember your place, girl! I knew we shouldn't have adopted you ... bla bla..."
The voice jolted me awake from a horrendous nightmare. Disoriented, I took in the opulent surroundings – a vast room adorned with expensive trinkets, the disdainful gazes of the servants, the woman whose voice dripped with icy disapproval. The realization came over again.
I wasn't Veronica anymore. I was Aurelia.
I'm the adoptive daughter of Count Sinclair, Aurelia Sinclair. At least that's what everyone here calls me. The truth is a little more complicated though. Back in my old life, Veronica Elizabeth was the name I knew. It was a life tragically cut short by betrayal and after my death five years ago, I found myself in a world unlike anything I've ever known. Yes, I got transmigrated into another notice, with my oh-so-cliche death, but unfortunately, those damn gods gave me nothing like transmigration buffs. I have no prior info about this world, and I don't possess any other gift like mana or anything. That's right, I'm fu*ked up. And if those so-called gods think I'll be fine with it, HELL NO-!"
"SHATTER!"
Aurelia flinched as a loud crash shattered the tense silence. Wine splattered across Aurelia, staining her old and worn-out dress a deep crimson. The crystal glass that had moments ago held a ruby-red exotic wine lay in glittering fragments on the floor.
"This is what you get for ignoring my words twice, now clean up yourself. I'll send some maids to prepare you. We can't have a brat like you disgrace us on your debut."
The last echoes of the Countess' voice dissolved into the hallway's stillness. Wine, sticky and cold, clung to my dress. With a huff, I mirrored her action, turning and walking away.
...
"Home sweet home," I muttered with a wry smile, after a twenty-minute walk to my chamber situated in the most isolated corner of the mansion. Unlike the opulent grandeur of the main mansion, my haven was a symphony of mismatched furniture, cluttered surfaces, alchemy tools and whatnot clustered all over the place. It wasn't something fancy either, to someone seeing it for the first time, it would appear like some poor alchemist's workshop or a lab rat's workplace. Except for the guard who stood outside my chamber to keep an eye on me, it was nothing like a young lady's chamber.
But It wasn't as if I expected anything luxurious from the Count either, after all, I was adopted from the back alley streets, and my background couldn't be worse.
Of course, they adopted me only because the greedy count wanted to fill his pockets. A touch of talent and a hint of potential in alchemy, all wrapped up in a naive girl – the perfect apprentice, perhaps even a bargaining chip.
However, the description of me being a naive girl and a bargaining chip wasn't true, obviously. I have my own plans.
...
"Honestly, the whole debut thing is a bigger headache than I anticipated," Aurelia muttered, securing the door with a satisfying click.
"Headache?"
A voice as smooth as moonlight itself spoke from the balcony. Aurelia knew who it was, just by his low murmur. Nonetheless, Aurelia's reaction was simple.
"Milady?"
"CLANG!"